Plans to Demolish Flooded Homes in Athens Move Forward

ATHENS -- [WENY] The bid was offered to a contractor to demolish up to seven homes that were destroyed by the flood of 2011. The homes are located on Winding River Drive, on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Tonight, township supervisors awarded the bid to Lycoming Supply, for $59,819. The way it works is that FEMA funds the buyout up to 75%. Homes can either be sold to the state or municipality and the community, then demolished. According to FEMA, the community can typically redevelop the land into a park; however, this time that's not the case. Four of the board members voted yes for tonight's bid, but Christine Vough says she voted no after recently learning about a 3-percent tax rate taxpayers will have to pay - a total of $15,000. "I was in agreement with this whole process up until now and learning this information is very disturbing, but we could have at least tried to put that in the budget because now we're going to have to come up with $15,000," said Vough. She says she's hoping that the township gets some funding through a grant.